Militias to cut Daesh off from Syria
baghdad — Iraqi paramilitary forces have been ordered to retake the town of Tal Afar and prevent Daesh group militants from fleeing west from Mosul towards Syria, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
The Hashed Al Shaabi, an umbrella organisation for the paramilitary forces that are dominated by Iran-backed militias, has played major roles in previous battles against Daesh , but has been largely on the sidelines since the operation to retake Mosul was announced last week.
The Hashed leadership has ordered “us to assume the mission of liberating the Tal Afar district,” Jawwad Al Tulaibawi, spokesman for the Asaib Ahl Al Haq militia, said in a statement.
The Hashed’s mission will be to “cut off and prevent the escape of Daesh toward Syria and fully isolate Mosul from Syria,” Tulaibawi told AFP. “We expect that it will be a difficult and fierce battle,” he said.
The involvement of the Hashed in the Mosul operation, especially in eventual fighting inside the city itself, has been a source of contention.
Iraqi Kurds and Sunni Arab politicians have opposed its involvement, as has Turkey, which has a military presence east of Mosul despite repeated demands by Baghdad for the forces to be withdrawn. Relations between the Hashed and the US-led coalition fighting Daesh are also tense, but the paramilitaries enjoy widespread support among members of Iraq’s majority. Iraq announced the launch of the operation to retake Mosul on October 17, and have been advancing towards the city from the south, east and north. But fighting has yet to begin on the western approach to the city, which is exposed to militantheld areas between it and Syria.
Daesh overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes have since regained significant ground. —